A three piece molded plastic enclosure is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 811,716, filed Dec. 20, 1985, entitled "Molded Plastic Enclosure For Disconnect Switches". The enclosure includes a three piece structure consisting of a base, cover and door individually fabricated by means of an injection molding process. The door is attached to the cover by means of a hinge arrangement wherein part of the hinge is formed as part of the door, while the remaining hinge structure is formed within the cover. The cover portion of the hinge includes a plastic cylinder having a flattened portion for ease in attaching the door to the cover. It has been determined that the door can be removed by forcing the door hinge component away from the cover hinge compartment by means of a special tool.
In some installations, where the enclosure includes service entry equipment for marinas and recreational vehicles and the enclosure is mounted in a public access area, it is required by state and local electric codes that the enclosure be locked and made tamperproof. Should the enclosure contain electrical utility meters for determining power consumption, it is required that the meters be visually accessed without the requirement of unlocking the enclosure. The prior art plastic enclosures mainly consisted of opaque or translucent plastic compositions such that separate meter sockets containing glass enclosed meters were required. Weatherproof metallic enclosures containing service entrance equipment usually provided a glass-enclosed meter projecting through the metal enclosure for visual access.
The aforementioned U.S. patent application is incorporated herein for reference purposes and should be reviewed for its description of the means for attachment between the cover and the case, as well as for the attachment between the case and the support substrate.